The Screening
by Teala373
Summary: DunderMifflin is treated to a private screening of their documentary while the production crew plays secret cupid with Jim and Pam. Rated T because I don't know who under 13 would be reading this.
1. Chapter 1

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 1: Jitters, Bimfatophs, & Wonder Woman

3/6/06

Summary: Dunder-Mifflin is treated to a private screening of their documentary while the production crew plays secret cupid with Jim and Pam. Takes place shortly after the "Dwight's Speech" episode.

Author's note: I totally forgot if the name of Jim's roommate was ever revealed. I am using 'Mark', but I have no idea what it really is.

Jim's left leg jittered up and down nervously as he sat in the very back of the office conference room while the director and producer of the documentary gave opening speeches.

Jim wasn't listening, he was plotting an escape.

The conference room had been transformed into a viewing room. All the chairs were lined up in little rows, facing a cart with a DVD player and a large TV. As soon as the speeches were over, the documentary on the Scanton branch, titled "The Office" would play, and Jim would have to live down the embarrassment of everyone seeing his infatuation with Pam captured on video.

Why, oh why, had he allowed himself to get too comfortable around the film crew? He had been distancing himself from her the past few weeks, but it didn't change anything. As much as he tried to move on, he really couldn't... and now everyone would know.

He nearly jump went he felt a hand on his leg, stilling its motion. He turned widened eyes to see Pam searching his face with a look of concern and hidden amusement.

"Hey, are you okay?" she whispered.

He swallowed a large lump in his throat as he realized how close her face was to his. He wondered if this was the last time she would ever come this close to him.

"Yeah, uh, yeah," he pasted on a reassuring smile, "I just had a little too much peach iced tea. I'm trying to convince Michael it really is my new favorite flavor. He wasn't kidding when he told Stan he'd hate it. It's pretty vile. My stomach lining's half gone."

Pam smiled. "Is he heartbroken that he can't be twins with you and drink grape soda at the exact same time you do?"

"Yeah. He tried drinking peach iced tea with me, but he gagged on the first sip and spent an hour in the bathroom."

"An hour?"

"Kevin tried to go in and check on him, but our resident drama queen was paranoid that Kevin was going to do number two and screamed at him to get out."

"When was this?"

"While you were at lunch, uh, running errands."

"Oh." Pursing her lips, Pam turned away, suddenly embarrassed that she had been shopping for wedding accessories during her extended lunch.

A small silence stretched out and when Pam finally looked up, Jim's face began taking an ashen hue again.

"You're sure there's nothing else?" The slight increase of her brow knotting together betrayed that she didn't quite believe him.

"Yeah, yeah. Totally." He cleared his throat and turned his head back to the front. "Did I miss anything important? I sort of had a little brain lapse, there. The peach iced tea is affecting my brain now, too." He laughed and tried to ignore the fact that her hand was still on his leg.

"They just said the film is very short so it can compete in the independent film festivals. A longer version will be edited for DVD. They're going to send us all a copy, but it won't be done for several more months."

"How short is this one going to be?" His leg started to jitter again. Pam applied a small amount of pressure, forcing it to stop. He had been avoiding sitting near Pam in meetings, but had been behind him when he entered, and made a point of sitting next to him. He didn't know if he should be flattered or panicked.

"Only about 42 minutes. That's about the standard for the festivals." She continued studying his face, though he was turned away from her. "Jim? Are you sure you're okay? You know you can tell me..."

He turned back towards her and held her gaze. "Nothing... nothing. I didn't really sleep well last night." That wasn't a lie. He had laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for hours, wondering how he could get Pam and Roy to not watch the documentary.

Fate had taken care of Roy, sending him out of town to vacation with his brother at their family cabin, but Pam was unable to get the time off, having used most of it on wedding preparations.

As the screening began, Pam pursed her lips together and searched Jim's face one last time before turning towards the screen.

"If I had to choose between a one night stand and them, I would choose them."

The conference room erupted into laughter, clapping, and cheering as the documentary ended with Michael's touching, though odd speech. Jim clapped and cheered the loudest, ecstatic that all of the moments he dreaded being shown had been edited out.

The 42 minute version of the documentary seemed to primarily focus on Michael's leadership, with a secondary focus on Jim and Dwight tormenting each other. The majority of the film was taken up with Michael's speeches, winning over a large client with Jan at Chili's, and feebly attempting to combat downsizing.

Jim's screen time was limited to his interactions with Dwight: putting his stapler in Jell-O, relocating his desk to the bathroom, and having Steve incorporate his items into the vending machine. A few other random moments thrown in were the vodka-inspired portion of the Christmas party, Stanly and Pam winning their Dundie awards (minus Pam kissing Jim), the office Olympics, and Michael being the "boss of dancing".

Pam looked over at Jim and smiled. "Wow. They did a really great job. I was expecting much worse!"

"Me, too, Pam," Jim let out a sigh of relief as they began exiting the conference room, "Me, too."

Michael had a refreshments set up in the break room and encouraged everyone to "party hard". Kevin put in a mix CD he had put together for the special occasion, complete with a bonus track from his Steve Miller tribute band.

After Michael's third speech, Jim began looking for Pam. He finally spotted her over by the door in a conversation with one of the camera guys from the documentary. When they finished, the camera guy looked at him and winked, before crossing the room to speak with the producer.

"What was that all about?" Jim asked, trying not to sound possessive. He knew it was juvenile to get annoyed or jealous when she talked to other people, but he just couldn't help it sometimes.

Pam smiled. "We were mostly talking about who my new ally will be in the ongoing Dwight and Angela scandal now that the film crew won't be here."

"I thought I was always your ally," Jim whined, feigning hurt.

"You," Pam began with a slight giggle, "are always my partner in crime. There's a big difference."

"So partner in crime is better than ally?"

"Oh Jim," she began shaking her head slowly in disbelief, "I can't believe you have to ask. Like anyone rates higher than you." She walked back over to her desk to grab her much coveted bag of French onion Sun chips that she had won from Jim in a bet on how many speeches Michael would make. She almost had to corner him in the break room to get him to agree to the bet.

Jim smiled widely, his eyes never leaving her as he soaked in the joy of her comment. He had completely forgotten to ask Pam why she resumed her proof of a Dwight-Angela relationship. His moment, however, was cut short as Michael strolled up from behind.

"The wedding is approaching fast, my friend. What are we going to do about Operation P?"

Jim rolled his eyes. He would have thought Michael would have gotten off his back about Pam by now. "WE aren't going to do anything. Remember the vow of silence I made you take."

"Yeah, but I can break the vow of silence anytime as Regional Manager," Michael scoffed.

"Yeah, but I can counter that as highest grossing sales rep."

"Uh, no you can't... and you're only the second highest grossing sales rep."

"Based on the reports this week, I am the highest and I totally can counter you because I initiated the vow of silence."

"But I'm a manager."

"But I'm taller than you."

"Darn it... I knew I should have worn my elevated shoes today!" Jim went to throw a pointed look at the camera, but there were no longer any cameras rolling. Having to look away from Michael, he concentrated on a picture of Tom Hanks that Michael insisted on hanging up outside his office.

"Anyway," Michael barreled on, "I still need to motivate you as your best-friend-at-the-office."

Jim's poker face wavered slightly. "You're not my best-friend-at-the-office."

"Um, I think I am," Michael stated matter-of-factly.

"Um, I think that's Pam."

"Yeah, but I'm your best-male-friend-at-the-office."

Regaining control of his poker face, Jim decided to push ahead and see how far this would go. "Wouldn't that be Kevin?"

"No!" Michael almost barked out. Jim could practically hear the gears in Michael's head grinding as they spun out of control. "No, because Kevin is in accounting... and he needs to use the scented candle every time he goes to the bathroom."

The poker face broke. "What does that have..."

"So, it's definitely not Kevin," Michael interjected.

Jim released a tight sigh as he broke eye contact with Michael. "Fine. Then it's Ryan."

"No, Ryan's a temp. He doesn't count."

"Stanley."

"No, you're not a 'brother'. Those are their rules. Not mine. I'm down with brothers, but they're not down with you."

Jim closed his eyes for a second to compose himself before continuing. "That would leave Oscar out, too. Right?"

"Definitely. He's a triple threat," Michael stated confidently.

"I don't even want to know what that means," Jim muttered. "Creed?"

"Nobody likes Creed."

"D...wi...ght..."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Now I know you're just lying. And don't even think about saying Toby. It's me. It's totally me. Stop jerking my chain, Jimbag. It's me and you can't deny it, so here is your personalized motivational speech. From me to you. B.M.F.A.T.O.F."

"Bimfatoph? What are you trying to spell?"

"C'mon, Jim! B.M.F.A.T.O.F! Best male friends at the office forever! Duh!" Michael began searching the breast pockets of his suit jacket.

"Soooooo... we're bimfatophs?"

"Yes," Reaching deep into his left pocket, Michael was slightly distracted, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Well, if you have to tell me at all..."

"Alright! Got it!" Triumphantly producing a crumpled post-it note from his pocket, Michael smoothed it out and prepared to read it. "Ok! Here we go! Everyone knows that Superman marries Lois Lane, and to a degree accepts it, but in Mark Wade's 'Kingdom Come', it shows in the future that Lois dies and Superman ends up with Wonder Woman."

Jim could only meet Michael's expectant look with a blank stare. He blinked twice before he was able to find his voice. "Wow. Where do I start? Um... I guess we'll go with the obvious first. You got that from Dwight, didn't you?"

"No! No! No!" Michael insisted while stuffing the post-it note back in his pocket. "Well... yeah. I was out of motivational speeches for the day, so I... yeah, I asked Dwight for some help."

"Ok, and how is that supposed to motivate me?"

"Because Pam is Superman and Roy is Lois and you are Wonder Woman. So, Roy will die and you get Pam."

"And I get to be an Amazon?" The poker face was back.

"Sure. You can buy books whether you're with Pam, or not. That's totally irrelevant." Michael was slightly bummed that Jim wasn't hugging him in sheer glee for his motivational speech. He contemplated punishing Dwight.

"And bounce bullets off my bracelets?"

"What? No. You just end up with Pam."

"Pam's from another planet and is allergic to a green rock. I don't know if that's really my thing. Besides, I thought you didn't approve of office relationships."

"Well Toby doesn't recommend them, so naturally I am in favor of them. Besides, I'm still working on the whole J-situation."

Jim's eyebrows shot up. "J situation? You mean Jan?"

"Shh! Shh, shh! Use the code!"

"Oh, right. So J-situation as in J-A-N?"

"Yeah, yeah." Michael stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down while he shuffled his feet.

"I thought you weren't allowed to talk to her unless it was strictly work related and she had a representative from HR present."

Michael seemed to perk up at that statement. "Yeah, I'm hoping it will be that Brenda chick so we can... ya know..."

"I'm trying not to know." Jim began systematically running different thoughts through his head to prevent a mental image of Michael, Jan and Brenda from appearing.

"Well anyway, I have a plan on how to make this whole 'Wonder Woman' thing happen," Michael was obviously proud of himself for altering the code in which he and Jim supposedly talked about their crushes.

"I already know. I spin around really fast."

"What are you...? No. I have an insider."

This piqued Jim's curiosity and also caused a horrifying chill to run up his spine. "What insider?"

Placing a hand on his chin, Michael ignored Jim's question as his mind wandered. "Maybe we should come up with a new code instead of the Wonder Woman situation," he thought out loud.

"You mean we were off P-situation?"

"Maybe 'Threat Level: Wedding'... What do you think?"

Jim felt his poker face breaking. "I... no words..."

Oblivious, Michael continued. "Okay, so Kelly is now a bridesmaid for the wedding, so we can get her to do all of our dirty work."

"You want Kelly to kill Lois Lane?" Jim didn't know what was more surreal: Michael's thought process, or his ability to keep up with his nonsense.

"Do you think she'd do it?" Michael asked hopefully. "I was just going to have her sleep with Roy and then have Pam walk in on them."

Spinning around, Jim checked to make sure that no one had overheard. "Okay, okay. How about we put Threat Level: Wedding on the shelf and concentrate on Threat Level: Boss."

"Is that the J-situation?"

"Uh, sure."

"Okay. Good. I like focusing on me, anyway."

"Right on, bimfatoph!" Jim gave Michael a playful punch on the arm while muttering "whatever gets your attention off me" under his breath.


	2. Chapter 2

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 2: Popcorn, Dundies, & That Jealousy Thing

Pam trudged up the walk to her apartment door with a sigh. She was annoyed and disappointed that Roy had just dropped her off in the parking lot. He was meeting Darryl and a few of their mutual friends at a local sports bar that supposedly served the county's best chicken wings. Pam had already been forced to eat pizza and chicken wings two previous nights this week. All she wanted was to curl up on the couch with a nice bowl of soup. She had hoped that Roy would have wanted to snuggle with her on the couch and watch TV with her. Maybe they could have an actual conversation.

Dropping her purse and keys on the floor, Pam shuffled through the small apartment, picking up Pepsi cans, beer bottles, pizza crusts on napkins, socks, and crumpled bits of paper that Roy had littered the living room with. She gathered the small piles of dirty laundry strewn throughout the bathroom and bedroom, then separated them into the divided hamper where her dirty clothes always resided.

She washed all the dishes in the sink, and then cursed under her breath when she found two cereal bowls and three small plates that Roy had left on his nightstand, the kitchen table, and the breakfast nook. She cursed again when she tripped over his bowling bag that was not put away in the front hall closet.

Looking at the clock, she realized she could get a couple loads of laundry in before the show she wanted to watch would begin. With a defeated, weary sigh, she began to head towards the divided hamper in the linen closet when something made her stop. Turning towards the front door, she focused in on her purse, carelessly tossed on the floor.

It felt like it took her forever to walk the small distance over towards it and pull back the zipper. Inside, the black spine of a DVD case stared back at her. She pulled the case out and stared at it for a moment, the film crew's emblem staring back at her on the front of the case, wondering why she felt so strange holding this object in her hand.

"Next time you get the TV to yourself, check out this special sneak peak," Tim, the main camera operator had told her as he hid the DVD under a stack of papers in her in-bin. "Don't let anybody else see it. It's just for you."

At the time, Pam thought maybe there were special scenes with Dwight and Angela, or other funny moments from when she and Jim had played pranks on Dwight. She still, to an extent, thought that now, but she couldn't bring herself to smile or laugh. She just stood there, looking at the DVD case, while a very strange feeling, that she couldn't identify, washed over her.

"Okay, the options look like hot dogs, old Chinese take-out, even older Chinese take-out, or week old pizza. Either option comes with a choice of chocolate syrup or hot sauce."

When there was no response, Jim pulled his head out of the refrigerator and looked around the kitchen area. He then noticed that his roommate was no longer sitting on the counter, but was instead talking on his cell phone in the living room.

Shrugging, Jim took one of the countless bottles of beer from the top shelf of the fridge and twisted the cap off. A few moments later, he heard Mark's cell phone snap shut.

"Dude, were you saying something?" he called from the living room.

"Yeah," Jim called back, "do you want me to run through the dinner options again, or do you want me to skip to the part where we should just eat hot dogs," his face suddenly brightened, as if a light bulb had gone off over his head, "there's ham, cheese and bread – I could grill us up some pretty sweet sandwiches!"

Mark walked into the kitchen, an apologetic look already forming on his face. "I'm sorry, but Heather just called and she's making pasta at her place. She wants me to come over, but..."

"No, no, no," Jim held his hands up, "go, please. Pasta with your girlfriend is much better than...," he trailed off while gesturing towards the fridge.

Biting his lip, Mark looked back and forth between the fridge and Jim. "Why don't you come with me? Heather won't mind. She always makes extra, anyway."

Smiling appreciatively, Jim shook his head. "No, you go and be with your best gal. I'll be fine. Besides, I like when I have the place to myself so I can watch TV in my underwear."

"Why don't you have someone over?" Mark suggested, feeling bad that he was leaving Jim alone for the fourth night in a row. "Who was that cute girl that was here...?"

Jim's shoulder's rose in a defensive gesture before dropping again. "Uh... Katy... yeah... she and I aren't really..."

"No, not her," Mark interrupted. His brow wrinkled slightly. "She was... I mean, she was cute and all... but, she was a little too much, ya know?"

"Oh yeah... I know."

Mark then rolled his eyes up to the ceiling as he tried to remember the girl he wanted Jim to invite over. "It's not Katy, it's the other girl. Ya know, she was here for the party. Real cute, real sweet. Paula? No. Pam? Yeah, Pam. What about her? You seem to talk about her a lot."

Clearing his throat, Jim began looking everywhere, but at Mark. "Pam, yeah. She's great, really great. We're friends, but she's, ya know, kind of with someone else, so..."

"Really?" this caused an eyebrow raise. "Wow, that's so odd. She seemed so into you, and then you two, like, disappeared in your room for a while, so I thought maybe there was a thing..."

"No!" Jim's voice came out louder than he meant for it to, startling his roommate. "I mean... no. There's no thing. We're just friends..." he mumbled.

Realizing it was an awkward topic, Mark began making the motions to leave. As he put his coat on, an object on the table caught his eye.

"Oh, hey, Jim," he called out, "I almost forgot to tell you!" He picked the object up off the table and set it on the counter next to where Jim was standing. "Before you got home, some guy dropped this off for you."

Jim looked at the black DVD case with a familiar look logo on the cover. "What guy?"

"I don't know, some guy. He said to make sure you watched it."

A questioningly look covered Jim's face. He started to ask Mark more about it, but Mark was halfway out the door. He set down his beer and picked up the case. Popping it open, he found a burned DVD with no label.

"Why do I having a feeling that if I watch this, I will die in seven days?" He asked out loud to no one in particular.

Pam had made herself a bowl of canned soup and set it down on the breakfast nook next to the DVD case. She had slowly eaten two spoonfuls when she decided she couldn't take it anymore. Abandoning her soup, she quickly located a bag of popcorn, threw it in the microwave, then raced to the bedroom to change into her favorite pair of pajamas.

Within 5 minutes, she was seated on the couch in her Wonder Woman flannel pajamas (an impulsive buy while at the outlet mall). She set the bowl of popcorn in her lap and started the DVD.

A familiar face appeared on the screen.

Having lost his appetite for hot dogs, Jim rummaged through the cupboards. He was happy to find microwave popcorn. While he waited for the bag to pop, he located a small bag of M&Ms, which he got half way through by the time the popcorn was ready.

Finally, he was settled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and the mysterious DVD starting.

He was surprised at the face that appeared on the screen.

The first half hour of the DVD, as far as Pam could tell, showed clips of all her interaction with Jim. She laughed at all the obnoxious pranks they played on Dwight and all the inside jokes they created. She sighed a little at the end of one laugh, realizing that she and Jim hadn't talked or hung out at work much anymore.

She pursed her lips together and realized that things hadn't been the same since the "booze cruise" Michael had taken them on. There seemed to be a weird tension around her and Jim. He seemed distant since confessing his former crush on her and the "sort of" fight they had when Jim tried to confront her about not enrolling in the design seminar.

She hit the pause button and stared down into her popcorn bowl. Jim's friendship meant a lot to her and without it, she felt empty. All of her high school and college friends were out of town. Though she kept in touch with them and many of them were in the wedding, Jim was really her only friend in Scranton.

The realization, and what came with that, weighed to heavily on Pam's mind. She shook her head lightly to clear the thoughts and attempted to resume viewing the DVD. As she looked up at the screen, she realized that she had paused the DVD right on a shot of her face as she watched Jim drive off with Katy on their first date.

Pam saw something in her face that she tried so hard to suppress Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. She saw her true feelings for Jim.

"I'm just upset with Roy for not staying at home," she muttered aloud, trying to convince herself that she her feelings for Jim weren't real. She looked back up at the screen and felt her reserve crumble. The footage she was watching was around a year old. Her being upset with Roy now had nothing to do with her feelings then.

She shook her head lightly again. "We're just friends," she muttered, "just friends."

Resuming the DVD, she was happy when the scene ended, changing to the day of the Dundie awards where Michael was forcing her to go through previous award footage.

Jim stared, mouth slacken, at the scene he had just paused on. He didn't want to give in too much to hope, but he could swear that Pam was upset and jealous when he had taken Katy out for the first time.

He rewound the scene in the parking lot and paused the DVD when Pam's face came into view.

"Yep," the corners of his mouth stretched and his eyes began to sparkle, "she was definitely jealous."

"Oh!" The small exclamation fell from Pam's mouth as the scene ended and changed to the actual Dundie award ceremony. She hadn't realized that Jim had gone to bat for her and tricked Michael into changing her award for the year.

She felt a slight rise of heat in her cheeks as she began to remember other times when Jim had defended her, or helped her escape awkward encounters with Michael and Dwight.

'Roy never does that', a little voice in the back of her mind quipped.

"Shhhh," Pam said aloud, trying to stop her brain from continually comparing Roy and Jim.

Focusing back on the screen, she realized she had just spaced out through most of the Dundie award festivities. She reached for the remote to hit rewind just as her speech was ending. She laughed as she watched herself screech a victory yell into the microphone.

Just as her finger hovered over the rewind button, she watched herself kiss Jim.

A pleasant look overtook Jim's face as he watched the Dundie awards. He normally hated the Dundies. He told himself it was because they were so lame and a waste of a perfectly good night. The truth was, he hated that Roy was there. He and Pam always sat at a separate table, and he never really got to talk to her much. This was the first Dundie awards he ever remembered thoroughly enjoying himself at.

He nearly chocked on his beer as he watched Michael take credit for Pam falling off the bar stool.

Pam rewound the video and watched it again from the beginning. She caught things she hadn't caught before because up until all of a few moments ago, she was in denial that there was anything between her and Jim.

She watched how awkward Jim became around Roy, when Roy kissed her or talked about plans they had. She watched how happy Jim was just spending time with, how the simple act of her falling asleep on his shoulder changed his horrid day into a good one. She also caught how subconsciously in love with him she had been.

"Gawd, it's so obvious," she whispered aloud as the DVD came back again to the Dundie awards, "no wonder people talked... how could I be so... stupid..."

Her eyes widened as she watched Jim evade Roy as he tried to meet her mother, then smile when he overheard being asked about.

Jim was alternating between smiling and laughing at good memories, and becoming very quiet whenever something he didn't like occurred.

The quiet started with the conversation he had with Pam after the Dundie awards. He wanted to know the question she meant to ask him before she caught sight of the cameras. Then, he felt embarrassed as he watched himself stand in the parking lot like a lovesick puppy as she was driven away.

When the scene switched to show he and Pam organizing games while Michael and Dwight were out checking his new place, he found himself smiling and laughing again. Quiet came when he saw how rattled Pam became over Angela's explanation of Pam Pong.

His interviews with Pam in the parking lot, as well as a conversation with a glum Dwight, due to a fire Ryan had accidentally started, brought back more smiles, until he frowned when Pam kissed Roy.

He paused the DVD on a scene of himself and Pam dressed up last Halloween as his mind began to wander. He rewound to watch Pam's interview about Katy over again. He then skipped back several chapters to watch her interview the first day they all had met Katy. Skipping forward again, he replayed Pam kissing Roy as he got in Katy's car.

"Yep," Jim stated as he sported a smile once more, "definitely jealous."

Pam hugged a throw pillow to her chest as she watched more excruciatingly embarrassed moments. She cringed as she watched herself chase Jim around the office, dressed like a cat, no less, to get him to understand that she didn't really want him to leave. She groaned when she watched her flippant behavior at the dojo when she and Jim were horsing around.

Pausing the DVD again, Pam got up and headed for the kitchen. If she didn't have a bottle of wine in the cupboard, then there was always Roy's beer in the fridge. She needed something to take the edge off.

"Interesting..." Jim mused as he watched the awkward moment between himself and Pam at the dojo. He hadn't realized that she had freaked out because Meredith had turned around to look at them. "What are you afraid of, Beesley..."


	3. Chapter 3

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 3: The Card, Silence & Confessions

Pam was barely drinking the beer she had so desperately wanted only moments ago as her mind drifted. She had just watched the rooftop "date" she and Jim had, and the awkward conversation they had about it the next day. She watched the doting smile Jim bestowed upon her as he watched her sitting on his bed, flipping though his yearbook.

She sighed. She had suspected that Jim liked her when she first started, but she just thought it was because she was new and the receptionist, it was par for the course. After a while, they had formed a friendship and alliance against Michael and Dwight that kept each others' sanity throughout each work day. She didn't know how she had deluded herself so badly into thinking that friendship was all it was for either of them.

'How could I have missed this?' she thought to herself. 'How am I going to face Jim each day now, especially after Roy and I are married?'

A little voice popped up in the back of her head, telling her she didn't have to marry Roy. The little voice told her to stop settling, to stop playing it safe, to stop sacrificing...

She shook her head to clear the thoughts. She didn't want to think right now. The rational part of her told her to stop watching the DVD and to go make something sensible for dinner. The impulsive part of her, the part of her that seldom won, told her to keep watching, and then to call Jim. Pam teetered back and forth. She knew if she kept watching the video, she would make some sort of move with Jim. She would justify that the last 10 years of her life were a waste. She would never see Roy's family again, whom she had grown to love. Her parents would be disappointed in her and think she was being immature. She would be lost, floundering, and vulnerable. She couldn't go back to that. Not again...

Reason winning, she picked up the remote and prepared to turn off the DVD. She was just about to hit the button when she caught sight of a very special scene.

"So this year, for the first time ever, I got Pam in Secret Santa, and I got here this: a teapot, which I know she really wants so she can bring tea to her desk, but I'm also going to stuff it with some inside jokes… like… this is my high school yearbook photo. She saw it at the party, and it really makes her laugh. Not sure why. Um… what else… ooh, this is a hot sauce packet. She put this on a hot dog a couple years ago because she thought it was ketchup, and, uh, it was really funny so I kept the other two. This would take a little too long to explain, so I won't, and this is a card… because Christmas is the time to tell people how you feel."

Tears began to well up in Pam's eyes. She knew that Jim put a lot of thought and effort into her gift, but she hadn't really thought about how much until now. She had never known anyone, outside of her mother, who was ever so thoughtful towards her as Jim was.

Her bow knotted together slightly as she watched the Christmas party scenes continue. She watched Jim dejectedness as she took the iPod, his frustration at trying to win it back for her, and then, his triumph... in which he stole back the card he had written for her.

At this point, the scene switched to one of Jim in his bedroom. He was babbling on about not knowing why the crew wanted to show him getting ready for work.

"Well, this is the point in the morning when I go over to my roommate's room and choose a tie. It's not that I don't have any of my own, I actually have several ties, but for some reason, they all end up in Mark's room. Weird."

Jim left his room, but the camera was slow to follow him. The camera panned down to his top desk drawer. An ominous hand reached out and opened the drawer.

Pam gasped as she realized that the cameraman was showing her the location of the card.

Jim sighed before popping the last M&M in his mouth. Although he was determined from the footage that Pam did have feelings for him, he didn't know what the camera crew thought he was going to do about it. He was almost positive that she wouldn't leave Roy. She was too afraid to let go of what was comfortable and known for something new. She had no guarantee that he would be what she needed. Although it was obvious to him, it may be less obvious to someone as insecure as Pam.

Although she put up a good front, he had seen the delicate lining that was always threatening to crack. He could see her pain, her doubts and her fears written plainly on her face. He had wanted to be the one to take it all away, but he knew now it was a fool's errand.

'I don't even know why I'm still watching this,' he mused as he picked up the remote and began fast forwarding through the next few scenes, all of which were too embarrassing to watch.

"You know what? I would save the receptionist. I just wanted to clear that up."

Tears flowed down Pam's cheeks as she watched Jim struggle through the evening on the cruise Michael had forced them all on. She had tricked herself into thinking that it was one of the happiest nights of her life, but as she watched the specific scenes that the film crew had cut together, she realized it was a miserable night.

Roy had only proposed to her because he was trashed and he was listening to the idiot captain of their ship. Jim was clearly devastated by the news. And as Pam watched herself, she felt that she was pathetic wretch – overlooking all of Roy's faults just because he said one of the many things she needed to hear from him. She was embarrassed at the way she had watched herself smile and tear up and ring her hands before leaping into the arms of her drunken fiancé.

Pam then rewound the DVD and then timed the scene in front of her.

"What does love sound like?" she asked herself, "27 seconds of silence..."

It was ironic because she knew Roy's silence on how he felt about her drive her crazy, but Jim's silence was different.

She continued to let the tears falls as she watched Jim talk to Michael while watching Dwight "steer" the ship. She then laughed as Jim was forced into spending time with Michael so his secret wouldn't reach Pam. She cried when he sucked up his pride and told her for himself. She cried as she watched the horrible day he had, all because he was unable to spend time with her, and the joy he got when he received her messages. She cried when he showed such support about the internship. She cried when they had the argument in the break room.

"Pam and I? No, no. It's not like that... it could be, but... it's not. I mean, she's great. She's so wonderful. We just... there's something about when we're together, but... her life is going to be different now. It shouldn't be. She could really do great things and be happy and free and not have to be afraid anymore, but she won't let me... I mean, she won't... well, you know life is about compromises, and she's always been with Roy and she wants it to stay that way, so she compromises."

"And what do you think Roy compromises?" the cameraman's voice drifted onto the screen.

Jim frowned and his eyes glazed over. "I... don't... know..."

"What do you think would be different if you and Pam were together?"

Jim's eyes were still glazed over, as though his mind was really far away. "Well, it would be great. We would hang out all the time... watch all our favorite shows, go out... you know, Pam is a really good artist, so I would take her to all those nice parks so she could sit and draw... and there's this nice restaurant that I think she would really like... and I don't think she's ever been to the new gallery that opened downtown... she could, like, network and stuff with the other artists... we could take trips to New York because the internship she wants is there, so we could go scope it out... and well, there's lots of stuff. We still have to go play miniature golf again, and I totally need to take her back to Chili's to see if they will really kick her out... and some nights, when the sky is clear, we could lay outside and watch the stars... that would be nice... to watch the stars with Pam..."

And with that, the DVD ended. Pam sat for several moments, tears running down her face, as a blank screen stared back at her.

"Dreams are just that. They're dreams. They help get you through the day. Like the thing about the terrace. It's nice. But, um… I don't know. It was just something I read in this book when I was twelve. Uh, the girl in the book has a terrace outside of her bedroom. And she planted flowers on it. And I just loved that. Just always kind of stuck with me. It's impractical. I'm not gonna… try to get a house like that. Um, they don't even make houses like that in Scranton. So I'm never gonna…"

Jim watched helplessly as Pam broke down in front of the camera. "Roy is such a..." he caught himself before he finished the sentence. Cursing out loud at Roy didn't solve anything. Despite the fact that Pam was too good for him, Roy wasn't the problem, Pam was. It wasn't Roy keeping her down, Pam wasn't ending things. She wasn't walking away. She was just letting her life crumble in front if her.

Jim was about to turn the TV off, but there was one final scene.

"Jim? Oh yeah, Jim's great... he's like my best friend. We, uh... we kind of haven't hung out as much, because, you know, I've been busy with, um, the wedding, and... You know, I'd really like Jim to be in the wedding party, but he's not close with Roy... Roy's kind of... sometimes he's just... I don't know... It's just easier to talk to Jim and hang out with Jim and be with Jim... I don't feel this pressure to be anything but myself. He makes me feel happy and special and... I mean, Roy does, too... sort of... they're just different...

A cough was heard off-camera as the cameraman broke Pam's rambling train of thought. "If you weren't with Roy, do you think you and Jim would get together?"

Pam looked like a deer frozen in headlights, but finally looked down into her lap. "Yeah, um yeah... definitely... we'd, like, be really good together... but, you know, Jim's got a lot of potential, so he could go anywhere and be with anyone... he wouldn't be happy with me, a dowdy little receptionist that doodles... he could have totally taken that job in Maryland and been awesome and, you know, Baltimore has this great vibe... a lot of culture, so like, he could visit all the galleries and parks and restaurants and be living this fabulous life... he... doesn't... he doesn't need me... I mean, I want a house with a terrace and flowers... he probably would think that was... dumb..."

"Do you really think that?" the cameraman probed.

There was a moment of silence before Pam responded. "No." She was looking down in her lap, a pained look on her face.

And then Jim's DVD ended.

Pam sat up all night on the couch, her mind reeling as she dared to think that she actually had a choice. At around 3 a.m., Roy stumbled in.

She barely heard him ask her about why she was still up, but he stumbled off to bed without really waiting for an answer. He hadn't even noticed that she had been crying.

That's when it hit Pam like a ton of bricks: if she truly married Roy in June, her life would always be like this. She would never be truly happy.


	4. Chapter 4

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 4: Avoidance, Lunch, then Dinner

As the truck pulled into the parking space, Pam blinked, and looked around confused.

"I can't believe we're here again," she mumbled dejectedly.

Roy looked at her with concern. "Are you okay? You've been out of it all weekend."

"And you've just been out," Pam bit back as she exited the truck.

Roy jogged around to the other side and gently took her arm. "Hey, hey! What's the matter?"

Pam looked up at him and found herself able to meet his eye confidently. "Why don't you ever want to spend time with me?"

Roy closed his eyes for a moment as he exhaled loudly through his nose. "Do you really want to start this now?"

Pam wretched her arm free and stomped off, ignoring Roy calling after her.

Pam spent the next two days avoiding Jim, who seemed to also be avoiding her. She stopped trying to talk to Roy, even when he skipped his bowling night to take her out to a nice restaurant for dinner.

She was tired and frustrated. She was restless and agitated. She was so many things, but she didn't know what to do.

'I can't just start over. I can't just leave everything behind,' she thought to herself as she packed her lunch for the following day. Suddenly, and idea hit her. Without bothering to tell Roy, who was engrossed in a basketball game on TV, she grabbed her purse and jumped in her car. She returned moments later with a few bags from the grocery store. She sat down in front of the computer, which had come with a free web cam. Pam had never used it, but now, she had a good reason to.

"Hey, Jim!" Pam called out as Jim walked in the door.

"Hey, Beesley," Jim called back, confused by her overly chipper attitude.

Settling into his desk, Jim sighed and wrestled with his daily dilemma of whether or not to tell Pam about the DVD the film crew had sent him.

Over the course of the morning, Jim caught a few stares from Pam. Each time he looked up, she smiled at him and giggled a little to herself before turning back to her work.

'I can't believe I ever tried to get her out of my system,' he thought to himself before turning back to his sales report.

It was several minutes later, at exactly 11:45, when his computer alerted him to a new e-mail. Toggling over to his inbox, Jim smiled, seeing that it was from Pam. He opened it and was greeted with an invitation.

"pbeesley1 has sent you video mail. Press play to view your message."

Looking up, Jim saw that Pam wasn't at her desk. He was surprised that she had slipped past him so easily. Shrugging, he pulled out his headphones and plugged them into his computer before pressing play.

Pam appeared on the screen, sitting in what looked like a little a small alcove in a kitchen. "Hi Jim," she smiled, "right now, I should be in the break room. Pause this video, then turn and make sure I am there."

Swiveling in his chair, Jim turned and saw Pam standing in the break room, happily munching away on a familiar looking sandwich. She waved at him before going to take a seat at one of the back tables.

"Oh this should be good," he muttered to himself as he resumed the video.

"As you could see," the Pam in the video continued, "I am eating your lunch."

Jim's eyes widened. He thought that sandwich had looked familiar.

"So, what are you going to eat?" the video continued, "I guess you'll just have to eat MY lunch. Let's see what I'm packing," and with that, the Pam in the video began holding up items before placing them in a large lunch bag.

"This is a mini ham and cheese sandwich, because that is what you always eat. It's only a mini sandwich, because I suspect you don't actually enjoy these as much as you claim to. Here is a container of mixed berries yogurt, because you made a point of telling the film crew that you knew it was my favorite..."

Jim paused the video and stared at the screen. He knew what Pam was talking about, but he didn't remember seeing that clip anywhere in the screening they had in the office.

'Why do I have a bad feeling she received her own DVD copy?' Jim asked himself before resuming the video.

"This is a bag of jellybeans because you always take a jellybean when you come over to my desk. Oh, here we go, this a container of homemade macaroni and cheese and salsa that you will have to heat up. Remember when Dwight told that story about his ex-girlfriend putting salsa in her mac and cheese? Well, I forgot to tell you that I came across it as a real recipe in a magazine. It actually tastes really good. I promise. And this is a Pez dispenser because you said that you liked that episode of Seinfeld with the Pez dispenser... oh! Here is candy necklace... just like the one Angela wore from her 'friend'... and this is a chocolate J.J. mini pie, like the ones you said you used to buy at the corner store all the time when you were little, and a can of Jolt, your college drink of choice! I can't believe I even found that! And I got you French onion Sun Chips because you always buy those for me when you lose a bet... and some carrot sticks because you said you tried to eat a lot of carrots at once to see if it really would turn your skin orange... and last but not least... I got you a piece of New York style cheesecake with white chocolate, just the way you like it!" the Pam in the video smiled warmly into the camera, "it's not a teapot with a yearbook picture and other memorable treasures, but I thought you still might like it anyway. Come have lunch with me!"

The video message ended, leaving Jim to stare at his computer screen. He was afraid to hope that this meant something. He was afraid to dream that this was more than a friendly gesture.

He continued to stare at the screen until Dwight leaned into his view and cleared his throat loudly.

"Did you get the video with the monkey?"

Jim looked up at Dwight and smiled. "No Dwight. I got something much better."

Springing up from his seat, he all but sprinted into the break room to join a giggling Pam.

It was best lunch Jim could ever remember. He and Pam were back to their usual selves, talking and laughing about everything and nothing... except the topic of the wedding.

He kept praising Pam for her efforts, telling her how wonderful and perfect her lunch was. Pam would beam back at him and tell him he deserved it. Jim felt as though the world outside of the break room didn't exist. Other people came in, but he barely noticed. No one tried to sit with them, or say anything more complicated that "hi". Everything was perfect.

But, when Pam began cleaning up, and making the motions for heading back to work, Jim began to fall back to reality. They were just friends. She was still getting married.

"So, any more progress on your vacation plans?" Pam asked, jarring him from his thoughts. "Did you pick a hotel, or activities, yet?"

Jim shook his head. "Nope. I... uh... still have time, I guess."

"You're probably going to want to stay in the New South Wales area, so you can, you know, be close to Sydney."

"Well, uh..." Jim shuffled his feet as they stood near at the counter. He felt very uncomfortable talking about his vacation with Pam.

"Because, I mean, how many times are you going to go to Australia in your life, so you might as well go big, right? You should stay at The Observatory. It's supposed to be the best."

"You seem to know quite a bit about Australia," Jim noted, creasing his bow together slightly.

Pam smiled. "I've been dying to go there, for like, ever."

"Really?"

"Definitely. There's so much to do there. So much. I mean, it would be so great, you know. The opera house, the beaches, the Outback, the coral reefs, the kangaroos... Who wouldn't want to go there?"

Jim didn't say anything, though he was teetering on the brink of asking her to go with him.

"I wish I was going with you."

Swallowing a large lump in his throat, Jim shocked himself when he said, "You should come with me..."

They stared at each other for a very long time. Somewhere in the back of Pam's mind, she wondered if 27 seconds had gone by. Finally she smiled warmly at Jim. "I wish it were that simple."

She then walked out of the break room, leaving Jim to stare after her.

"What do you want from me, Beesley?" Jim muttered to himself before he sat back down at the table to collect his thoughts.

"Oh, uh, hey," Pam began nervously as she came to stand near Jim's desk at the end of the day. Jim was confused as this was a very different Pam from the confident, fun Pam he had encountered in the break room earlier.

"What's up?" he tried to be casual, but his voice wavered slightly.

"I, um, I have something for you, but, uh, I left it at home. Can I... can I bring it over later tonight?"

Jim blinked once, but couldn't quite form words in his throat.

"I mean, if you're busy," Pam began babbling, "I can just, you know, drop it off quick, but if... if you're not... I could bring dinner from that really good Chinese place up on North..."

Jim blinked again. "Sounds great. You sure that you know... can. I know you have a lot of... wedding plans... and stuff..."

Pam inhaled sharply. "Well, Roy's going out with the guys tonight and I figured I needed a break from everything, too. And, like, we don't... I mean, we haven't really hung out much outside of work, and I'm always telling everyone how close we are, but then I don't even see you outside of here, so, you know, I thought it would be nice, and, like, lunch today made me realize how much I've missed us... you know..."

Jim smiled. "Yeah... I know... What were you thinking? Six? Seven?"

Pam exhaled. "Is six-thirty okay?"

"Perfect. Promise me one thing, thought."

"What?" Pam suddenly stiffened in anticipation of his question.

Jim smirked. "Promise you'll breathe in between thoughts and lay off the run-on sentences."

Immediately relaxing, Pam shot him a sarcastic look. "I'll see what I can do." She spun around, flipping her hair over her shoulder haughtily, making Jim laugh as she walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 5: Spicy Food, Bathrooms & Flipped Moods

Jim's mind was reeling as he sat on the couch and watched the clock. He had run a quick errand before racing home and taking a shower. He then did a quick spot check of the house, but Mark had apparently cleaned up before he left. That just left Jim to wait.

He watched the clock flip over from 6:14 to 6:15. He sighed in agony.

His mind began to wander. He didn't even care anymore if she was toying with him or if she still didn't realize how her actions affected him. He was just happy to have some time alone with her. It was probably the last chance he would have like this before June...

The ringing of the doorbell made him jump. Quickly wiping the sweat from his palms, he hurried to the door and threw it open.

"Sorry, we're all stocked up on Girl Scout cookies for the season." He tried to be his usual self, but seeing Pam on his doorstep, looking as beautiful as ever, was starting to crack his façade.

Pam laughed. "Well, then it's a good thing I brought dinner instead!"

He stepped back to let her in, and then followed her to the kitchen. "You look nice," he murmured, noting how much he enjoyed the way she looked in jeans.

Pam turned back slightly. "Thanks... you... look nice, too," she tugged playfully on one of his shirt sleeves, "I like this pullover."

"Thanks," he replied while beaming.

Dinner was just like lunch. The talked and laughed while eating their favorite Chinese dishes.

"You ordered a lot of spicy dishes," Jim commented as Pam spooned another spicy dish on his plate, insisting that he had to try it.

"I always ordered vegetable lo-mien, but I've decided to live more adventurously."

Jim laughed. "Are you going to start mixing regular in with the decaf, too?"

"Maybe," Pam giggled as she stood, "I'm going to go refill your glass. You'll need it after trying that spicy chicken."

Somewhere in the back of Jim's mind, he wondered why Pam kept insisting on refilling his glass. He barely would get his glass down to ¼ full and she would instantly be pouring more for him.

She quickly returned with a glass filled with milk. He raised an eyebrow in question at her as she set it down.

"When you eat something hot or spicy, you should drink milk," Pam began, "water just spreads it around, but milk, absorbs it or something. I don't know, I read that somewhere once."

Raising his glass in a salute, Jim smiled. "Well, thank you for your concern."

They continued talking and eating for several more moments. Pam always seemed on the verge of something, but Jim wasn't quite sure what it was. He was afraid to call her out on it and break the mood. He had seen Pam's mood flip over quickly by a simple comment, and he didn't want anything to spoil tonight.

"Excuse me," Jim began as he rose from his chair, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Pam asked, a little too loudly and quickly, her eyes wide.

"Chill, Beesley, I'm just going to use the little boy's room."

Pam laughed awkwardly. "Oh, yeah, sure. I'll, um, start cleaning up."

"No!" Jim practically shouted, fearing that the end of the meal meant the end of the night. "Uh, I might eat some more, so, don't move. I'll be right back."

Pam smiled and nodded her head.

Jim headed over to the downstairs powder room. He thought he heard Pam getting up as he neared the door. He was just about to enter the room when he heard Pam behind him.

"I, uh, I have to use the bathroom, too," she spoke quickly as she brushed past him, "I'll just use the upstairs one, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Jim wondered why she seemed so rushed and nervous. "You okay there, Beesley? You drink to much diet soda or something?"

Pam giggled as she started up the stairs. "I guess it's all the spicy food making me loopy!"

Shaking his head, Jim entered the bathroom and put the thought out of his head.

Pam, on the other hand, had other plans. She dashed to Jim's bedroom and crept inside, trying to be as quiet as she could. Opening the top right desk drawer, she found the object of her desire: the Christmas card Jim had never given her.

Grasping the letter, Pam silently closed the drawer and headed to the bathroom. Leaning up against the counter, she trembled as she pulled the card from the envelope and began to read.

Tears instantly began to well in Pam's eyes as she read Jim's neat, but typical male handwriting. She had never heard Jim speak as passionately as the words he had written down. He outlined his love for her, telling her how amazing and wonderful she was, and how much he wanted to be with her.

After his original message, there were more writings in different types of ink. The best Pam could tell was that he used the card as almost a journal of sorts to continue logging things he just couldn't bring himself to say in person.

He wrote about how Roy wasn't good enough for her, that she could accomplish everything she wanted, and that he would support her. He wrote about her art skills, places they could go together, poems and quotes that he thought pertained to her. The last thing he had written in the card caused the tears to flow freely from Pam's eyes.

"I would build you a house with a second story terrace and all the flowers you wanted to plant there. We would have breakfast there every morning, just not George Foreman grilled bacon."

Pam laughed as she wiped her eyes. Reading the card again, she tried to gain the courage she needed to confront Jim. As she passed his bedroom, she noticed something on his desk that she had failed to recognize in her quest for the card: a black DVD case with the film crew's logo on the front.

Jim, having heard Pam enter and exit the bathroom, but not having heard any running water, came to stand at the bottom of the stair case landing. He was confused as to why Pam was standing in the middle of the hallway, with some sort of paper in her hand, frowning into his bedroom.

"Hey. You okay?"

She turned and looked at him, her courage having turned to frustration. "No," she responded coldly.

Surprised by her response, Jim quickly covered the distance between them. "What's wrong," he asked, looking down at her with concern.

Pam lifted angry eyes to meet his. She didn't want to be angry, but something had snapped inside her. "Why do I always have to do everything," she whispered roughly before slipping past him.

Jim stood in the hallway, dumbfounded over what had possibly caused her mood to flip over. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him again. Every time he thought things were going well between them, something random would just set her off and put distance between them again. Taking a quick glance into his room, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sighing, he made his way downstairs.

Pam had closed all the food containers and shoved them in the refrigerator. She was struggling to put her coat on when Jim caught up to her.

"Hey! What... what's going on? What's the matter?"

"Everything's the matter!" she shouted. "I thought... I thought I wouldn't have to... have to just," she stopped as she finally got her coat on, "I thought I wouldn't have to just leap into... into the unknown... I thought you would help me!"

Alarm and confusion filled Jim's eyes. "What are you mean? Pam, come one! Talk to me!"

Pam headed for the door, with Jim close on her heels, pleading for her to stop. He contemplated grabbing her hand and making her stay. His hand snaked out, but before he could reach her, she spun around.

"Why can't you just say it! What can't you tell me what I want to hear? What are you just leaving everything up to me? Or giving up? Why?" she continued to shout, "Am I not good enough? Not worth it? How can you... h-how can you... write these things, but not say them? Because you don't really mean it?" Finished with her spat, Pam threw two envelopes towards a bewildered Jim before slamming the front door behind her.

Jim was in shock as he watched the two envelopes flutter to the floor. He had no idea what had just occurred. He had no idea why Pam was so upset. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"Everything had been so perfect," he mumbled aloud, still staring at the door. Ignoring the envelopes on the floor, he trudged up the stairs and sat down on his bed, holding his head in his hands.

He sat there, his mind blank, for several moments before looking up. He opened his top left drawer to look for a small bottle of aspirin he kept in there.

That's when he noticed the Christmas card was missing.

Gaining a new burst of energy, Jim sped down the stairs and dropped to his knees in front of the two envelopes by the front door. The first envelope, as Jim suspected, was the Christmas card. The second envelope, with his name written in Pam's simple cursive on the outside, had something very surprising in it.

It was a matching ticket to Australia with a note reading "I'm coming with you."


	6. Chapter 6

The Screening

By Teala373

Chapter 6: Conclusions

By Tuesday, Jim felt like he was losing his mind. Pam had called into work the past 4 days. He hadn't seen her since she had blown up with him last Wednesday at his place.

He ran over the events of the night a million times and tried to think of what he would say to her when he saw her next. He couldn't just leave things the way they were, even though he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die.

He was agitated and had a hard time concentrating on anything. People would try to talk to him and he would give short responses. His sales were way down for the week, but he didn't care. All he could think about was Pam.

Over the past few days, he had picked up the phone, but never went through with dialing her number. He started numerous e-mails to her, hoping she was checking them at home, but he always deleted them before he finished.

He drummed his fingers on the desk impatiently, needing to do something other than agonize the situation before he exploded.

Around 10:30, a dejected Roy came up with Darryl to use the break room. Upon seeing that Roy was still at work, a light bulb went off in Jim's head. Shooting Michael a quick e-mail, he grabbed his coat and flew out the door, ignoring Dwight's barking questions.

Pam was surprised when she answered her door to see Jim standing breathless and frazzled on her doorstep.

"I knew you weren't sick," he commented.

She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Listen," he began, "it's just not that easy. I – I didn't actually want to hear you rejecting me, which I was pretty sure you would do all the different times I wanted to... say... something. I mean, I get your attention Monday through Friday, nine to five, but you would go home with Roy and then come in the next day with some story about how he did something that upset and I knew... I knew I could be better. I knew I could be the one that could make you happy. I want to be that guy, but you kept pushing me back and insisting on being with Roy... how was I supposed to think that telling you the truth would change anything?"

Pam continued to simply stare at him, a pained look in her eyes.

Jim took in a big breath before plowing forward. "You want me to say it, Pam? Well here it is: I love you. I've always loved you. I'll never love anyone but you. If you don't leave Roy and come away with me... I'm just going to be alone and miserable for the rest of my life. I want to be with you. I want to... I want to make you happy and..."

He was swiftly cut off by Pam crushing her lips against his. His arms instantly came up around her, and he held her to him as if he never meant to let go.

"I wanted to hear you say it," Pam whispered when they came up for air. "I needed to know it was more than a crush."

Jim frowned. "But you read the card..."

"Yes, but when I saw that you had your own copy of the DVD... I don't know... I thought maybe I wasn't worth it for you to say it to my face... that maybe it was just some crush gone wild and that if I said something to you... you... wouldn't really want me at all... I was so scared..."

He silenced her by pressing his lips briefly to hers. "How could you ever think that you're anything less than perfect? You're everything to me, Pam... everything..."

She chocked back a happy sob in her throat as her eyes began to shine. Smiling, she backed out of his embrace and let him in. As he walked in, he noticed that her apartment seemed oddly bare.

"He moved out over the weekend," Pam explained, noting the look on his face. "I needed some space, so we aren't going to announce anything until next week."

Jim gathered her into his arms. "So then you are going to Australia with me?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Pam responded, smiling back.

Looking down, Jim took note of what Pam was wearing. "Are those... are those Wonder Woman pajamas?"

"Yeah," Pam replied, her defenses rising slightly, "so?"

Jim smiled wide. "Nothing... it's just... I have this little thing with Wonder Woman..." He leaned down to start another long kiss with the woman he loved.

fin


End file.
